University of Leicester named as one of the world’s most sustainable universities

UI GreenMetric World University Rankings 2018 places the University of Leicester 35th in the world and 9th in the UK for sustainability.

The University of Leicester has been ranked as one of the world’s most sustainable universities. The UI GreenMetric World University Rankings 2018 has placed the University of Leicester 35th in the world and 9th in the UK. This is a rise of eight places from our 2017 ranking.

The rankings are an annual measure of sustainability in higher education institutions worldwide, led by the University of Indonesia. This year, 719 universities from 81 countries took part.

The rankings take into account a wide range of criteria for each university, including setting and infrastructure, energy and climate change, waste, water, transportation and education.

Sustainable initiatives led by the University of Leicester over the past 12 months include:

Commitment to the UN Sustainable Development Goals – we were one of the first UK universities to sign the SDG Accord and have mapped our academic contribution to the goals

Ethical Investment Policy – the new policy commits the University to investing its endowment funds on a responsible basis, taking into account the concerns of its Social Impact strategy

Biodiversity – the Biodiversity Action Plan and new Design Guide have realised our commitment to ensuring our sites promote diversity for all species. 40% of our land is green space and we have planted over 1,000 trees on our sites over the past two years

Dr Sandra Lee, Social Impact Lead, said: “As with other similar rankings, the criteria are becoming much tougher as students demand their institutions increase their own environmental management as well as teaching and research on sustainable development, so we are being held to account.

“Leicester is committed to embedding sustainability and social impact into every aspect of our business and we are thrilled to be recognised for our efforts.”